What is Wyoming's road fatality rate?

Wyoming has a road fatality rate of 24.7 per 100,000 population and 1.5 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 102.3% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Wyoming in 2023?

In 2023, Wyoming recorded 144 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 1,153.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Wyoming?

The leading cause is unrestrained, accounting for 52.7% of all fatalities (608 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Wyoming?

Road fatalities in Wyoming are decreasing with a -0.7% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 145 in 2015 to 144 in 2023.

How does Wyoming compare to the national average for road safety?

Wyoming's fatality rate of 24.7 per 100K is 102.3% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Wyoming ranks #2 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Wyoming's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 31.3% of road fatalities in Wyoming, representing 361 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 31.0% and pedestrian incidents for 5.8%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Wyoming?

In Wyoming, rural roads account for more fatalities: 938 rural vs. 209 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 81.4% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Wyoming: higher-rate fatality band

Wyoming is in the higher per-capita third: 144 traffic deaths in 2023 at 24.7 per 100,000 (#2 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

144
Deaths (2023): 24.7
Per 100k residents: Well above average; 1.5
Per 100M VMT: +10
2022–2023 deaths

Higher per-capita fatality band

Wyoming ranks #2 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (24.7/100k) - top-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Wyoming in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Wyoming sits in the higher-rate third at 24.7 per 100k (#2 of 51), 102% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with unrestrained the largest contributing factor.

#2 of 51
higher-rate third: 24.7/100k
2023 fatality rate: #44/51
by total FARS fatalities: Unrestrained
leading contributing factor

144 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

80%

Rural 115 (79.9%)
Urban 29 (20.1%)

NHTSA fatality milepost

Milepost WY · Wyoming #2 of 51 · 24.7/100k

Wyoming · 24.7/100k · 144 in 2023 · #2 of 51

NHTSA 24.7/100k
MILE #2 of 51
BAND 1.5/100M
POST 1,153 book
RATE near Mississippi
RANK 31.0% spd
VMT 5.8% ped
BOOK +102.3% vs US

Stamps derive from this state's NHTSA FARS row (per-100k rate, corpus rank, VMT rate, fatality book, nearest-rate peer, alcohol/speeding/pedestrian shares, vs-national gap), not a trip-risk forecast. PlainRoadSafety is informational only. See our disclaimer. Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Read with methodology → · Understanding road fatality data → · States ranked →

Road Safety Index

27/100

Wyoming

Benchmarked against all 51 states (50 states + DC) on fatality rate, exposure-adjusted rate, pedestrian and impaired-driving fatality share, and safety trend from NHTSA FARS, US Census Bureau, and FHWA sources, not enforcement, infrastructure spend, or road-condition ratings.

Fatality Rate F

24.7/100k

Fatalities per 100,000 residents (NHTSA FARS + Census PEP population)

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.51/100M VMT

Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA FARS + FHWA Highway Statistics)

Pedestrian Safety A+

5.8%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control F

31.3%

Share of fatalities that were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA FARS)

Safety Trend F

-0.7%

Change in fatalities over the reporting period; negative is declining (NHTSA FARS)

Rollover-heavy crash pattern in Wyoming

Rollover/overturn leads Wyoming's non-vehicle first-harm events in 2023 FARS (24.3%), with Interstate the most common roadway class. Counts come from the NHTSA FARS accident microdata for 2023 (first harmful event, weather, light, route, and rural/urban setting), not from the seeded state rollup alone.

First harmful event

Motor Vehicle In-Transport 41.7% · 60
Rollover/Overturn 24.3% · 35
Pedestrian 5.6% · 8
Fence 4.9% · 7
Post, Pole or Other Supports 4.2% · 6

Light condition

Daylight 59.0% · 85
Dark - Not Lighted 32.6% · 47
Dark - Lighted 4.2% · 6
Dawn 2.1% · 3
Dusk 2.1% · 3

Roadway class

Interstate 36.1% · 52
U.S. Highway 27.8% · 40
State Highway 16.7% · 24
Not Signed 9.0% · 13
County 6.9% · 10

Weather at crash

Clear 84.0% · 121
Snow 6.9% · 10
Cloudy 2.8% · 4
Rain 2.8% · 4
Blowing Snow 2.1% · 3

Alabama

19
Arkansas

19
South Carolina

20
New Mexico

21
Wyoming

25
Mississippi

25

What this shows Wyoming sits among the five nearest fatality-rate peers on the per-100k scale.

Unrestrained

53
Nighttime

37
Alcohol-Impaired

31
Speeding

31
Weather-Related

19
Distracted

10

What this shows Unrestrained is the top contributing cause in Wyoming, involved in 52.7% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Wyoming vs all states by fatality rate

Where this state's deaths-per-100k sits among every state and D.C. on PlainRoadSafety

25 Higher risk than most a lower per-capita rate than 2% of 51 states

States and D.C., banded by fatality rate per 100,000 residents

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA FARS over Census population · 2026-09-03

Wyoming plotted against a representative sample of 27 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus.

Wyoming can rank differently on each axis: population density pushes the per-capita rate one way, and rural-highway commute length pushes the per-mile rate another. Hover or tap any point (including Wyoming's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Wyoming moved from 145 deaths in 2015 to 144 in 2023 (-0.7%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	145	24.8	57	45	5
2016	112	19.2	35	28	4
2017	123	21.1	43	37	6
2018	111	19.0	35	28	6
2019	147	25.2	46	42	11
2020	127	21.7	45	39	6
2021	110	18.8	33	37	11
2022	134	22.9	43	48	7
2023	144	24.7	24	54	11

Laramie, Sweetwater, and Fremont concentrate Wyoming deaths

The top three counties (Laramie, Sweetwater, and Fremont) hold 31.0% of Wyoming's county fatality book (1,008 deaths across 23 counties).

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	LARAMIE (21)	109	8	12.1	↑ increasing
2	SWEETWATER (37)	105	20	11.7	↑ increasing
3	FREMONT (13)	98	13	10.9	↑ increasing
4	CARBON (7)	83	12	9.2	↑ increasing
5	NATRONA (25)	69	10	7.7	↔ stable
6	ALBANY (1)	64	10	7.1	↑ increasing
7	CAMPBELL (5)	54	11	6.0	↑ increasing
8	LINCOLN (23)	54	9	6.0	↑ increasing
9	PARK (29)	41	6	4.6	↑ increasing
10	PLATTE (31)	41	7	4.6	↔ stable
11	UINTA (41)	40	6	4.4	↑ increasing
12	CONVERSE (9)	39	4	4.3	↔ stable
13	CROOK (11)	35	6	3.9	↔ stable
14	JOHNSON (19)	29	4	3.2	↔ stable
15	GOSHEN (15)	24	7	2.7	↔ stable
16	SHERIDAN (33)	24	1	2.7	↓ decreasing
17	NIOBRARA (27)	19	7	2.1	↔ stable
18	TETON (39)	18	1	2.0	↔ stable
19	SUBLETTE (35)	16	0	1.8	↔ stable
20	BIG HORN (3)	15	2	1.7	↔ stable

Showing top 20 of 23 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, Mississippi (24.9/100k) and New Mexico (20.7/100k) sit closest to Wyoming's 24.7 per 100k.

6 of 50 other states are shown here, ranked by closeness to Wyoming's fatality rate.

Mississippi

24.9 per 100K

732 fatalities (2023)

New Mexico

20.7 per 100K

437 fatalities (2023)

South Carolina

19.5 per 100K

1,047 fatalities (2023)

Arkansas

19.4 per 100K

596 fatalities (2023)

Alabama

19.1 per 100K

974 fatalities (2023)

Tennessee

18.6 per 100K

1,323 fatalities (2023)

Laramie-cluster counties and Wyoming road data

Contextual links from this profile to rankings, tools, research, and peer geographies on PlainRoadSafety.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Wyoming (#2 of 51; volume #44/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →